Antonio Barberini
Cardinal-Bishop | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 August 1607 |
| Died | 3 August 1671 (aged 63) Nemi, Lazio, Papal States |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Education | Collegio Romano |
Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an
Early life
Barberini was born on 5 August 1607 in
Pontificate of Urban VIII
Barberini's uncle, Maffeo Barberini was elected as pope on 6 August 1623 (the day after Antonio's 16th birthday) and took the papal throne as
Urban's famous nepotism wasn't sufficiently quelled by the appointment of one cardinal-nephew. Less than a month after his 20th birthday and without having established an ecclesiastic career of his own, Antonio Barberini was appointed as a cardinal on 30 August 1627. His elevation was made in pectore and was published on 7 February 1628. Urban also purchased the comune of the town of Palestrina outside Rome, and Antonio's other brother, Taddeo Barberini, became the Prince of Palestrina.[2]
In 1628, Antonio was appointed Prefect of the
The Wars of Castro
In 1639
Castro fell to Urban's forces without significant resistance and the victory was celebrated in song by
Pontificate of Innocent X
Antonio had developed a strong relationship with
Antonio's brother Francesco had sided with the Spanish and split the conclave and it was his negotiations that resulted in Pamphili's election. The final deal in Pamphili's favour included an agreement, designed by the brothers for their own benefit, that the new Pope would allow the Barberini to keep the titles, land and fortunes they had amassed under Pope Urban VIII's reign.[8] Mazarin became so angry because of Antonio's attitude that he deprived him of the protectorate of the Kingdom of France.[4] However, the conflict was of short duration and both cardinals quickly reconciled with each other.[citation needed]
For reasons unknown, Pope Innocent X reneged on the deal and Antonio and his brother Taddeo were accused of financial abuses during the War of Castro. The two went into exile in 1645 in Paris under the protection of Cardinal Mazarin, and were joined a year later by Francesco. Before leaving Rome, Antonio had the crest of the King of France affixed above his door as a warning to his political rivals that he was now protected by the French Kingdom.[7]
Pontificate of Alexander VII
When Innocent X died in 1655, Antonio Barberini again played a leading role in the College of Cardinals and the conclave. Again, Antonio and the French nominated Giulio Cesare Sacchetti but he was vetoed by the Spanish. The fractured college came together to support Fabio Chigi, who was elected and took office as Pope Alexander VII.[4]
Later that year he was ordained Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati.[11] About that time he changed his dissolute lifestyle, devoted himself to religion and became strongly involved in the campaign against Jansenism.[3]
King
Later life
Barberini participated in the
He died in Nemi on 3 August 1671, two days before his 64th birthday.[citation needed]
Private life
Contemporaries widely commented on Barberini's very dissolute conduct during the pontificate of his uncle. According to Gregorio Leti, "The great inclination he has had to women hath been no small blemish to his reputation".[9] Contemporary John Bargrave, who met Barberini while he was travelling through the Alps on his way to exile in France, also made comment on Barberini's "vicious deportments" and "life full of liberty and debauchery".[7]
According to the controversial anonymous text The Scarlet Gown (a tabloid published in 1653 listing the vices of each living cardinal of the day), Barberini had a number of mistresses including one he had whipped for flaunting herself during Carnivale and another who died mysteriously while carrying his child.[12]
Barberini was also, apparently, involved in several affairs with men.[9] He became particularly intimate with the castrato singer Marc'Antonio Pasqualini in the early 1640s. Contemporary testimony leaves little doubt that the "veritable passion" the cardinal felt extended to more than Pasqualini's beautiful voice.[13] According to some historians, the scandal of his alleged homosexual relationships was the "talk of the town".[1] However, in his later life he underwent conversion, changed his lifestyle and became deeply religious.[3][7]
Patronage of the arts
Music
Antonio Barberini was patron to a number of significant musicians and composers of 17th century
Fiori musicali was dedicated to Antonio Barberini in 1635. He was also said to have been a patron of Luigi Rossi.
Outside their intimate relationship, Antonio Barberini was an ongoing patron of Marc'Antonio Pasqualini.
Architecture
In 1627, the Barberini family commissioned the architect
Prior to his election, Pope Urban VIII had been a member of the
Antonio and his brothers also commissioned the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane (or Theatre of the Four Fountains); an opera house in Rome and built in 1632.[14] It was located in Via delle Quattro Fontane, near the Piazza Barberini and the Quattro Fontane or Four Fountains.
Art
Though
Antonio commissioned
Antonio and his uncle also commissioned the painter Andrea Sacchi to complete various works at Antonio's Capuchin church and at the Palazzo Barberini.[17] Today the Palazzo Barberini houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, one of the most important painting collections in Italy.[18]
Today, a portrait of Antonio by Carlo Maratta hangs at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, UK, where Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland, acquired a number of Barberini-owned pictures in the mid-nineteenth century.
Notes
- ^ Likely due to his conflicts with the Pope which were not completely repaired until later that year.
- ^ Though it seems by this stage Antonio and his brother Francesco were working together in a larger contingent of Cardinals who had been elevated by Pope Urban VIII.
- ^ Celebrations were held at the Palazzo Barberini honouring the Queen's visit
References
- ^ a b Power And Religion in Baroque Rome: Barberini Cultural Policies by P. J. A. N. Rietbergen (Brill, 2006)
- ^ a b c d e Papal Genealogy: The Families And Descendants Of The Popes by George L. Williams (McFarland, 2004)
- ^ OCLC 53276621. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ a b c Court and Politics in Papal Rome, 1492-1700 by Gianvittorio Signorotto & Maria Antonietta Visceglia (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
- ^ History of the popes; their church and state (Volume III) by Leopold von Ranke (Wellesley College Library, 2009)
- ^ The Duchy of Castro by Roberto Piperno (last revised: May 2012)
- ^ a b c d Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals by John Bargrave, edited by James Craigie Robertson (reprint; 2009)
- ^ The triple crown: an account of the papal conclaves from the fifteenth century to the present day by Valérie Pirie (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1935)
- ^ a b c Mistress of the Vatican by Eleanor Herman (HarperCollins, 2009)
- ^ Listening as Spiritual Practice in Early Modern Italy by Andrew Dell’Antonio (University of California Press, 2011)
- ^ "Antonio Cardinal Barberini (Jr.), O.S.Io.Hieros". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ The scarlet gown or The history of all the present cardinals of Rome - an anonymous text authored in 1653 (translated into English by H. C. Gent)
- ^ The Eroticism of Emasculation: Confronting the Baroque Body of the Castrato by Roger Freitas (The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring, 2003) pp. 196–249
- ^ Music & Spectacle in Baroque Rome: Barberini Patronage Under Urban VIII by Frederick Hammond (Yale University Press, 1994)
- ^ Giovan Pietro Bellori: The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors and Architects: A New Translation and Critical Edition translations and additions by Hellmut Wohl (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
- ^ Museo di Roma: le collezione di scultura del Seicento e Settecento by Elena Di Gioia (F.lli Palombi, 1990)
- ^ 17th century art and architecture by Ann Sutherland Harris (Laurence King Publishing, 2005)
- ^ Galleria Nazionale d'arte Antica Palazzo Barberini: I Dipinti. Catalogo Sistematico by L. Mochi Onori, Rossella Vodret Adamo (L'erma di Bretschneider, 2008)
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